Customer Reviews

Summer Infant Sure & Secure Walk-Thru Gate

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

okay, I've been through a lot of gates. We have three kids, 2 dogs, and have finally got a house that almost fits us all. This gate has been terrific. We set it up, it works. Plus its expandable without having to buy extensions like you do from all those other gates, and its extremely well made. Here are some the features you want in a gate. It has to be walk-through, that is it opens so you don't have to step over it or move it out of the way. This opens and swings so when your done you just close it behind you. In our case we also wanted a gate that pressure mounted so we didn't have to put screws in the wall, does that.

Plus it looks great, it doesn't have bars like all the others, or big plastic grid. It actually looks like a piece of furniture. Anyway can't say enough good stuff.

I believe I got one of the first ones. I was attracted to it because it mostly uses a soft mesh to be the barrier not metal or wood which would just be another hard surface in my house. It was easy to set up, expanded into the doorway I needed it to and plus it's a walk-through gate which makes getting through a breeze. The handle to open and close it really works well, especially when I have my hands full : )

Anyway for all the features and the price I thought this was the best gate out there, and with 2 kids, one on the way, and a dog I've seen and used plenty.

After reading the reviews that were already posted I can think of three reason for the difference in opinion about this gate.

1. The good reviews were written by people that work for the company.
2. The good reviews were written by people that received gates that work as advertised.
3. The good reviews were written by people with the *aforementioned bionic hands.
*in previous reviews

My wife and I bought one gate on Saturday and I tried to put it up when we got home. I noticed two things... I thought the bottom adjustable bar was welded on crooked (I think its actually that way to increase tension when the unit is installed) and that one of the holes that an tension bumper was supposed to go in wasn't there. I also noticed that the button for the release was impossibly difficult to press in, but I assumed that had something to do with the unit being defective. We returned it the next day and got another. The hole was there this time, but the problem with the button being hard to push remained. I would say in ten tries I was able to open the gate with one hand one time and my wife was barely able to open the gate even using two hands. While my wife does have arthritis, that is really no excuse for why she can't open the gate. I picked this one expressly because of the "simple one handed operation" it touted on the box. Last night I returned it and got the Hands-Free Gate from The First Years. Based on its reviews I think I picked a winner this time.

I am a very picky mommy of a one year old boy. I research everything carefully before I buy it for my boy. I read all of the reviews on these gates and decided to take a chance. I am really glad I did. I will admit, the gate is not easy to put up and adjust. However, once that ordeal is through, the gates are awesome! It is so nice not to have to climb over or keep moving the other ugly gates we had.

I think the reviewer's that stated that the gate, once opened could fall over, did not properly install the gate. There is no way that gate is going anywhere opened or closed if adjusted properly. In addition, reviewer's have said opening the gate is not easy. It is not suposed to be. I am a very small woman with skinny little hands and I can open it just fine. If it is impossible to open, just release the tension by the handle a smidge.

The olny reason this gate did not get 5 stars from me is the fabric does not stay super tight. But there is no way a kid can fall through it. The fabric on our gates DO NOT sag considerably. It just does not stay as tight as we would like.

We love the gates and feel the $ was well spent!

My wife had a friend who had hurt herself with one of the older style baby gates, so she insisted that I get the best one I could find. I had no problems whatsoever putting in the gate, and with 3 little kids and a very energetic dog running around, I was very happy to be able to install it quickly and easily. Right away I was able to see why it was better than one of those traditional wooden gates...my dog chased my 2-year old right into the mesh (at full speed) and despite the look of panic on my face, my son bounced off and continued along his merry way with the dog in tow. My wife likes the clean look of the gate, and we both find it very easy to open and close the gate with one hand, which is the most that either one of us ever has free these days. For you other husbands and dads out there who have been yelled at for buying the 'wrong' thing on other trips to the baby store, I can tell you that I was very happy to finally see a smile on my wife's face once I had put this gate up. We have been using it for over a month now ... my wife tasked me with buying a few more of the same gate for our other doorways and stairwells. This gate definitely gets a big thumbs up from our household!!

I read all the reviews and still went out and bought it at a local babies r us. They have it set up in a bin so you can see how it works, looks, etc. And thought it looked better than most of the other stuff out there, which like the other reviewer said is mostly steel bars or plastic.

I got it home and set it up. It took a little fine tuning in the doorway. All the bumpers adjust so you may need to have one come out farther than another so it will fit just right. You can really make it as snug as you want in the doorway. After that no problems. I can open it up and it stays in place when open. I did not have any problems with it falling over and could still close it easily.

Plus I like the fact that it's mostly soft (fabric) which I thought was better to have around the kids. And a pretty cool design.

I'm surprised at the negative reviews. I always read consumer reports and customer reviews, when available, before making a purchase. I selected this gate from One Step Ahead's catalog and then looked on-line for reviews. I nearly changed my mind about buying it after reading the negative reviews, but fortunately there were some positive ones indicating that a challenging installation may have been the downfall. I purchased two gates and installed one between a wall and stair railing and the other between two stair railings ... certainly challenging positions for a tension-based gate. They each took less than 10 mintues to install and opened easily with one hand when I tested out my installation. My husband was the first to use it in action. He was headed up the stairs after our baby and I called up the instructions for opening the gate as they approached the top step. He was able to open it immediately with one hand (and at that point he had our baby in his other arm) while standing on the stairs ... without having even seen the gate until that moment. AND, the button was on the side of the gate away from him. I really have to question the negative reviews ...

I saw the other reviews and had to write. First off, it's a tension gate. *Of course* it releases the tension when you open it! That's the point! Anyway - we use this gate all over the house. We have odd sized doorways and didn't want holes in our walls or on our staircases like other gates require.
We first tried one of those netted tension gates that you screw out to provide tension and that was much harder to adjust than this one. It also slipped easily when our two year old threw herself against it.
Bottom line, if you follow the directions this is a great gate.

I purchased this gate after reviewing several other gates. I have 4 kids and a dog in a 2 story house. I was using the wooden gates that lock into place and you have to step over to prevent my 1 and 3 year olds from climbing the stairs, but that ment my 10 and 12 year old either had to take the gate down or climb over the banister to get to their rooms. My husband and I both agreed that we did not want to screw anything into the wall but needed a swing through gate at the bottom of the stairs. This gate seemed to fit the need. It was somewhat difficult to extend to fit the opening with the puch buttons but once adjusted is easy enough for my 10 year to open on his own and sturdy enough to keep the 1 year old downstairs. The gate does slide a little if you open it all the way, however it does come with brackets you can mount with screws into the wall to hold it if this a concern.

This product is, without question, the worst I have purchased thus far. Forget about how it works, mine didn't even come manufactured at a 90 degree angle. I have never felt the need to post a review on this site until I got this piece of garbage into my home. I am convinced that the people that wrote positive reviews about this product have some sort of vested interest in this company. Don't buy this gate.